How Mirinda Carfrae Became an Ironman World Champion

Mirinda Carfrae’s 2010 win in Kona was no fluke. It was a result that was carefully and methodically crafted by her fierce yet under-the-radar coach, Siri Lindley.

To learn more about Lindley and Carfrae, pick up the May/June issue of Inside Triathlon magazine, on newsstands now. Inside the new issue, journalist Kim McDonald reveals how Lindley and Carfrae planned and executed Carfrae’s record-breaking win.

The following is a selection of some of the photos that Inside Triathlon photographer John Segesta took of Lindley and her athletes, including Carfrae.

How Mirinda Carfrae Became an Ironman Champion

How Mirinda Carfrae Became an Ironman Champion

How did two athletes with so little Ironman experience create a recipe for such success in Kona in such a short amount of time? Many of the clues can be found in Lindley’s evolution from a struggling age-group triathlete to a world champion, the instincts she’s honed as an athlete and coach, and the way she’s learned to cajole top-level performances from her athletes.
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How Mirinda Carfrae Became an Ironman Champion

: Lindley insists on being with her athletes at the pool, the track and on many of their group rides to correct mistakes.
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How Mirinda Carfrae Became an Ironman Champion

How Mirinda Carfrae Became an Ironman Champion

Lindley calls her home base in Los Angeles and Borrego Springs, Calif., a “more powerful environment” for coaching her athletes than Boulder, Colo.
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How Mirinda Carfrae Became an Ironman Champion

When Lindley was a professional she was coached by Brett Sutton, the controversial yet highly successful coach who is most famous for launching three-time Ironman world champion Chrissie Wellington’s career.
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How Mirinda Carfrae Became an Ironman Champion

Lindley, who is pictured here, says she knew she wanted to be a coach the day she retired as a professional triathlete. As a pro, she was a ITU short-course world champion.
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How Mirinda Carfrae Became an Ironman Champion

Besides Carfrae, Lindley’s current athletes include long-course champions Leanda Cave and Kate Major (Cave is also a former ITU short-course world champion), and up-and-coming ITU short-course pros Chris Foster and Hayley Peirsol.
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How Mirinda Carfrae Became an Ironman Champion

“Once I stepped up to Ironman, which was uncharted territory for both of us, I think we evolved into a great team with a huge amount of mutual respect,” Carfrae, pictured here, said of Lindley.
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